Ammar Bin Yasser School is excited to announce the new Partnership with Arab Academy (www.arabacademy.com). The Arab Academy is the world's leading provider of online Arabic language courses. Its program helps transfer traditional Arabic language classes at our school to "smart classrooms". Smart classrooms are different than traditional classes in the following:
1- The way the class is administered.
2- The way homework is given, done and corrected.
3- The way the teacher follows up on students.
4- It also changes the evaluation criteria and the role of teachers and parents. We shall now present each of the above points in turn and explain it further.
I: Smart Arabic Classroom
A smart Arabic classroom differs from a traditional classroom as follows:
1. A Computer and Projector in Class
Instead of depending on "books" only, the centerpiece of the smart classroom is the interactive curriculum that is displayed to the whole group through a data show connected to a computer.
2. Web based interactive curriculum
A traditional class is composed of a teacher, students and a book. The book is the pivot upon which the whole educational process rotates. Instead, a smart classroom rotates around an interactive web based curriculum.
II: Homework
A smart class transfers the homework from the burden that students like to escape from in a traditional Arabic classroom, into an enjoyable learning experience. That is because the homework now involves working on interactive activities and games with immediate feedback and automatic correction. All grammar activities provide students with intelligent feedback that explains why the answer is wrong. Students may also send to the teachers questions through the web site and the teacher responds through the teacher's board.
III. Evaluation Criteria
The evaluation criteria in smart classrooms differ from those in traditional classes. Smart classes take advantage of a computer’s ability to store information in a vast and accurate way. Evaluation is therefore based on the following:
1. Attendance: time spent online on the program
2. Homework: working on the online activities
3. Tests: students take online tests and scores are automatically recorded
4. Writing: students learn how to write and type Arabic as they are required to submit compositions on a regular basis.
5. Interacting with students and teachers: students are encouraged to interact online on the site, in order to create an active supportive environment.
IV. Student Tracking
Smart classes involve a change in the way that teacher’s correct students work as follows:
1. Correction:
Instead of carrying all those copybooks of students, teachers are able to follow up on their students’ work from one place online. A number of reports are generated with details on students' work. This helps teachers understand the needs of each student and of the group as a whole.
2. Display of Grades
Instead of waiting to get the copybook back with corrections on it, students are able to view their grades online. Details on their mistakes are also provided along with corrections of their compositions.
V: Role of Parents
Parents are not expected to help students in their studies or in doing their homework. However, they are expected to follow up on their children and make sure that all is well through:
1. Preparation of Computers:
First and foremost, parents have to make sure that the computer at home, that the student is going to be use, meets the technical requirements of Arab Academy programs. Studying revolves around the computer, so it is essential that the computer be ready. Please read the technical requirements at the end of this document (Attachment A)
2. Interaction with Parents:
There is a special board where parents can send messages to teachers and vice versa. The aim of this board is to facilitate interaction between parents and teachers.
3. Logging In:
Parents should be aware that the school provides each child with a username and password to be used to log on to the web site. Parents should keep those passes in a safe place so that the student would not lose it. The password should be changed periodically to protect it.
4. Password Protection:
Students should change the password as soon as they get it, in order to protect it. Parents should make sure that their child is the only one who uses this password. That is because when those passes are used to log on to the site, all activities done online are recorded and a report is sent to the teacher. If another person uses those passes to log on to the program, the reports that are sent to the teacher would be wrong and the teacher will not be able to understand the student’s needs and abilities. This could have a negative effect on the student’s grades and linguistic ability. Further, the terms and conditions of use of the Arab Academy web site specify that a password is to be used by one user only, not more. The school subscribes and pays fees for each student, so parents should protect their child's rights and interests by not letting the student share those passes with others.
We hope that students, parents and teachers would find this new experience positive and inspiring. We also promise to continue to try and develop our teaching methods to make learning Arabic enjoyable and fun. Finally, we would like to invite you to visit the web site of Arab Academy at: www.arabacademy.com
Technical Requirements of Arab Academy Programs
The Arab Academy's courses are highly interactive. To take full advantage of the interactivity of the courses, the following minimum system requirements are required:
- PC Windows XP, MAC 4.5 or higher
- 1,800 MHZ Pentium 3 Processor or more
- 512 MB of RAM
- 56 Kbps modem
- Sound Card
- Speakers
- Real One or above
- Internet Explorer version 6 or above, Netscape 7.2 or above
- Screen Resolution 1024 X 768 or more
To set your Screen to a higher resolution, follow the steps below:
* Go to Start --> Settings --> Control Panel
* Double Click on Display then click on Settings.
* Adjust Screen Area to the maximum settings allowed: 1024 X 768 or more.